


Redacted

by notoriously



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 14:21:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11419809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notoriously/pseuds/notoriously
Summary: Nobody quite knows what Hogwarts House the elusive, grizzled Auror Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody belonged to back in his day. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny make it their mission to find out, and Mad-Eye makes it his mission to tell them all whatever they want to hear.





	Redacted

 

“He _must_ have been a Slytherin.”

“Says who? I reckon he was a Gryffindor.”

“Please. He’s a deceptively smart man, perhaps he was a Ravenclaw?”

“He might just surprise the lot of us and have been a Hufflepuff,” Ginny remarked, offhand, and three sets of eyes locked onto her face. As they did, she caught sight of Sirius making his way into the room, sitting quietly at the end of the table.

“Bloody hell Ginny, you’ve gone madder than his eye,” Ron remarked, shaking his head. “No way they’d let that bloke into Hufflepuff.” Ginny sighed and shook her head, and she wanted to rebut that Hufflepuffs could be plenty tough. Take their newly firm friend Tonks, for example. But just as she was about to open her mouth, her eyes flicked to Sirius directly. He sat, silent, and gave her a small smile. She could have sworn his facial hair had grown bushier since he walked into the room. For now, though, she and Hermione seemed to be the only ones who had noticed his presence, and the latter looked at the former as if she too had seen his beard changing.

“Besides, Harry, how can you think he’s a Slytherin? He’s not evil or anything,” Ron redirected his attention to Harry, who shrugged small.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a man more resourceful than Mad-Eye. And besides, you don’t get to be the most famous Auror in the world without being ambitious,” Harry replied quickly, before catching sight of Sirius in the corner of his eye. His beard was certainly looking scragglier than usual. Still, he figures Sirius could help him. “Sirius, surely _you_ know what house he was in.” Sirius did not make a move to open his mouth, but that was largely because Ron spoke up again.

“You don’t get to be that successful an Auror without being brave as all hell,” Ron added, to which Hermione sat forward a little.

“Not all Aurors are Gryffindors, Ron,” she asserted, “but to stay alive as an Auror you need to be clever. Which he is – I think Ravenclaw is certainly a possibility, at least.”

“Please! Ravenclaw’s _almost_ as stupid a guess as Hufflepuff!” Ron almost reeled up off his seat, at which point all four teenagers heard an attention-calling cough coming from the head of the table. They looked down to see Sirius, his beard longer than Dumbledore’s and twice as wide. The penny dropped first for Hermione, then Harry, then Ginny. Ron took another moment but once he realised, he realised his earlier words and his expression paled.

“… I – I mean, I wasn’t saying that _Hufflepuffs_ are stupid,” he stammered, and for a split second Sirius Black himself giggled. But as the laughter started, his visage began to morph away until a familiar, pink-haired Auror was sitting in the same spot that pseudo-Sirius had been in.

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist, Ron, I know,” Tonks smirked, popping her elbow on the table and resting her head on her hand. She glanced at a grinning Harry. “How’s my Sirius?”

“Pretty brilliant,” he replied, “as are most things that shut Ron up.” Ron walloped Harry in the arm and Tonks snorted, sitting up and stretching a little before looking to the girls on the other side of the table as she started speaking.

“So, we have some hot Mad-Eye debate going on, huh? Great, he _loves_ being talked about,” she could barely hold back her laughter at that, winking at Hermione and Ginny. They both laughed small, and Hermione spoke up.

“We’re just trying to work out what house he was in at school,” she clarified, “but rumour has it nobody knows.”

“Well, I mean, _he_ knows,” Ginny added.

“And surely some of the professors know, right?” Harry asked, though it was more rhetorical than anything. Ron seemed to realise something and again, he was leaning up off his seat, towards Tonks.

“Hang on, surely _you_ know? He’s your mentor and whatnot, you’re his favourite!” he said. Tonks smirked a little wider, shrugging her shoulders before leaning in towards the table a little.

“I mean, I might, but… have any of you just… _asked_ him?”

The table was silent. Tonks snorted with laughter again.

“Oh, come on, I’m at a table full of Gryffindors and none of you are brave enough to talk to old softie Mad-Eye?” Again, silence met Tonks’ comments, and she shook her head and went to stand, climbing backwards over the bench she was sitting at and then jumping off it to the floor.

“ _Trust me,_ alright. You’re right, I’m his favourite, because of _course_ I am. But he really doesn’t mind people asking him questions. Especially not that one. Nobody ever asks, so he never gets the chance to tell,” said Tonks as she moved towards the door, “and take it from me. Mad-Eye’s an unexpectedly good storyteller.”

As Tonks left, the four at the table looked at each other. Silence hung there for a few more moments before Harry sighed, standing from his seat.

“Suppose _I’ll_ go find him, then?” he asked, and Ron nodded.

“Go on. You can get your head bitten off by Mad-Eye, I’ll stay here, thank you very much.” Ron sat, folding his arms. Hermione scoffed and shook her head at Ron’s petulant reaction, but Ginny looked optimistic.

“Tonks wouldn’t lie to you about something like that. I’m sure it’ll be fine. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, though,” she added. Harry shook his head.

“No, it’s alright. Rather know the truth, to be quite honest,” Harry remarked, “anything to prove Ron wrong.” Ron screwed up his face as Harry smirked, heading for the door.

 

* * *

 

 

It turned out that Mad-Eye hadn’t actually _been_ at Grimmauld Place that same night, but the next time Harry was there, he passed the Auror on one of the stair landings. He took a quick breath in, because brave as he may have been, Mad-Eye still frightened him a little.

“Uh – Mad-Eye?” he asked, and the older man turned around with a slight hobble.

“Can I _help you,_ Potter?” he replied, the same perturbed tone in his voice as always. He was struggling to believe that what Tonks had told him was true.

“I – I suppose you can, I – Tonks told me – “ Harry started, but Mad-Eye clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“I shudder to think what she’s told you about me –“

“No, nothing bad! I just – I mean, some of us – we were –“

“Spit it out, boy!” he crowed, and Harry seemed to shuffle on the spot uncomfortably for a second before doing just that.

“What house were you in at Hogwarts?!” he yelled, appearing to have almost no control over his volume. And then, as if miraculously, Mad-Eye’s expression changed – he almost looked _gleeful._ Harry was confused and honestly, a little frightened.

“Gods, boy, all that fretting for _this!_ I’m not gonna bite your bloody head off,” he shook his head, clamping a hand down on Harry’s shoulder and starting to walk him into one of the adjacent rooms to get out of the way. It was dark and smelled of mould and damp, but Mad-Eye’s heightened mood didn’t shift.

“D’you have any idea what house I might’ve been in? And don’t be frightened,” he added, finally letting go of Harry’s shoulder, “there’s only four of ‘em, and I’ve heard ‘em all.” Harry shifted a little, folding his arms and glancing around the room before sighing. Mad-Eye did seem genuinely fine with this.

“Well… I suppose I’ve always seen you as a Slytherin. You – you’ve always been so resourceful, and I figured someone couldn’t be as successful an Auror as you if they weren’t ambitious…” Harry’s voice trailed off, and Mad-Eye let out a loud and sharp chortle. Oh, god, he was _laughing now!_

“You’re quite right, Potter,” Mad-Eye replied, to which Harry looked both shocked and somewhat self-satisfied. Still, despite how stunned he looked, Mad-Eye continued to clarify.

“I was sorted into Slytherin back all those years ago. S’pose the ambition did help, but the main reason I became an Auror was to stick it to the bastards sayin’ Slytherin just churned out Dark Wizards. If one of those Slytherins helped lock ‘em all up, too, figured that’d keep ‘em quiet.” Harry’s unease had all but completely gone away, and he looked as if he was bursting to rush off and tell his friends that he was, indeed, right. But before he could, Mad-Eye leant in, placing his hand back on Harry’s shoulder.

“Y’must do me a favour, though, Potter,” his voice was low and gravelly, “y’must _not_ tell anyone else about this. I s’pose that’s what Tonks told you – one o’ the few joys I still have left is telling people about my own house, _myself._ Can you keep this quiet for me?” Harry was somewhat deflated, but he nodded – this didn’t preclude him from telling his friends to go and ask Mad-Eye for themselves. Then, they could all silently know the truth, and would silently know Harry was right.

“Course I can, Mad-Eye. Tonks did say you were a good storyteller, so…” Harry gave possibly as wide a smile as he ever had around Mad-Eye, who laughed again in return.

“Bright girl, that one.”

 

* * *

 

 

Ginny was the first one to encounter Mad-Eye after Harry had told them all that he had asked him about his house and that it was true, he liked telling the story. There was a small argument that ensued between Harry and Ron when Harry had asserted that he couldn’t share Mad-Eye’s house himself, but the girls removed themselves from that soon enough. Hermione had to leave Grimmauld Place that night, heading back to Hogwarts with Tonks volunteering to escort her. Harry and Ron’s argument had moved from the kitchen to the room they stayed in at the house, which left Ginny in the kitchen alone. She was tending to some dishes when she heard someone lumber into the kitchen behind her and over to a cabinet, grabbing a mug.

“Moody,” she said, almost not expecting the word to come out. He turned around and glanced between the girl and the dishes.

“I’ll do my own washing up, s’no fuss,” he remarked, before turning back to the counter. Ginny shook her head, wiping her hands with a tea towel.

“Oh, no, it’s not that, it’s… I have something to ask you,” she remarked, and Mad-Eye stopped right where he was. He turned to face the youngest Weasley again, and if she didn’t know better she would have said he was smirking.

“Yes?” he asked, and she felt as if he knew what was coming.

“I suppose… I mean, a few of us were just wondering what house you were in? Back at Hogwarts, I mean,” she remarked. He gave a low laugh, and that was certainly a smile now.

“I _see._ Well, Ginevra,” he started, but she cut him off.

“I – Ginny is fine,” she remarked. He gave a small understanding nod – she was a damn sight more polite than his protégée had ever been about that.

“ _Ginny,_ I’m always interested to hear what house other people think I’m in. Like to present a challenge,” he replied, continuing to make himself up a beverage. Ginny leant back and shrugged small.

“Honestly, it was mostly the others guessing… but after all that, I guess I’ve kind of convinced myself you _might_ have been a Hufflepuff. Which is probably wrong, I just… I guess it’s because of Tonks. Thought that might be why you took her under your wing,” Ginny shrugged, and Mad-Eye raised his eyebrows.

And then he nodded.

“Well, well,” Mad-Eye remarked, “I have to say, Miss Weasley, you’re perhaps one of the first to ever guess it, but it’s true. People presume a lot of us Puffs, but I always liked the way they underestimated us. Every time. Figure we can’t be strong or powerful. Load of rubbish,” he remarked, and Ginny’s eyes were wide.

“No. _No._ Seriously?” Her voice was more excited than she had intended.

“Seriously indeed. Of course, Tonks is incredibly talented and I like to think I would have found her were she not a Hufflepuff. But when the Ministry wanted me to find someone to hand the baton to, where else was I to look but my own house?” Mad-Eye asked. Ginny was honestly gobsmacked, but she nodded nevertheless. She wanted to badly to tell the others she had been right – of course, Harry already knew – but then she remembered.

“Wow… uh, also… Harry didn’t tell us what house you were in… he said you told him not to say?” Ginny asked. Mad-Eye gave a single nod.

“Correct. And if you could do the same, it’d make life much easier for me,” he murmured, quiet. Ginny nodded resolutely.

“Of course, of course.” Ginny gave a small smile, and Mad-Eye nodded.

“Well. I’ll leave you too it, then. Glad to enlighten you,” he remarked, raising his mug towards her in salutation before heading out of the kitchen. Ginny turned back to the dishes, feeling rather satisfied.

Somewhere, flying high over the world on her broom with Hermione Granger in tow, Tonks felt the urge to laugh.

 

* * *

 

 

Ron’s encounter with Mad-Eye was next, and it was perhaps the most forced of all of them – he had been searching for the man, but he’d been off on business for days. So when their paths finally crossed at Grimmauld Place again, Ron seized the opportunity as soon as Mad-Eye walked in the door. It was quite ridiculously late but he bolted to the front landing, stopping just short of the man, who stopped in his tracks and looked quite disgruntled. He obviously wasn’t expecting anyone to be there, and if they were, he certainly wasn’t expecting them to be _awake._

“What in the _hell_ are you playing at, Weasley?!” Mad-Eye grunted, and Ron took a big step back. Harry and Ginny had said he’d been fine telling the story, what was different now?

“What house were you in at Hogwarts?” he asked, and it was almost imperceptible, but Mad-Eye relaxed a little.

“God, alright, _alright,_ can you just let me get in the door, for _chrissake_?” Mad-Eye trudged on through to an adjacent living room, and Ron followed a fair distance away. With a creak, Mad-Eye sat down, Ron standing a fair distance away across the room.

“I see you’ve had words with your sister and Potter,” he remarked, looking less gruff now that he was sitting. Ron nodded.

“Right, right,” Mad-Eye sat forward, looking over Ron. And well, while he usually liked to ask what house people _thought_ he was in, he had a sneaking suspicion that he already knew Ron’s assumption. He was a fairly transparent wizard.

“Put it this way,” he sat back, clasping his hands, “they say I look positively _dashing_ in red and gold.” Ron’s eyes widened and he nearly jumped up on the spot. He took a few strides forward, hands gesticulating almost wildly.

“I _knew_ it! I told them, I said, _Mad-Eye’s brave and nothing shakes his nerve, nothing!_ I _told_ them!” Ron looked more smug than Harry and Ginny had, and this in turn had Mad-Eye smirking wide.

“Ah, well, brighter than you look, then, Weasley,” he chuckled, but Ron was too superior to even notice the underhanded compliment.

“They’re gonna be _so mad_ that I’m right.” Ron let out a long, satisfied exhale after his words, a smile having broken out on his face. In fact, he was sure this was as happy as he’d ever been around Mad-Eye.

“Mmm, well... I’m surprised you were the only one of your friends to think me a Gryffindor, Weasley. As an Auror… well, you can be the smartest wizard this side of the globe, but if you’re not brave enough to cut it –“

“That’s what _I_ said!” Ron interrupted, bursting forth.

“ _Shh,_ keep it _down,_ ” Mad-Eye whispered, gruffly, before letting his voice come back up to a slightly higher volume, “but you’re correct. There’s a ridiculous number of Gryffindors in the Ministry, not just the Auror Office. And I just so happen to be one of them.” Ron looked like the excitement was seeping out of him and coursing through his very veins. Mad-Eye gave a large sigh and stood, though he did still seem relatively pleasant.

“Right. But you _can’t tell anyone_ my house, alright? You can tell them I told you, but they come to me for the actual word, alright?” Mad-Eye brought a somewhat threatening tine back into his voice, one which had Ron standing as straight as he could.

“I – Yeah, of – of course, Mad-Eye. Wouldn’t dream of telling anyone,” he managed, and Mad-Eye pat him roughly on the shoulder.

“Good man. Glad we can make these deals,” he paused, “you know. Gryffindor to Gryffindor.” Ron’s smirk appeared again, and he nodded as coolly as possible.

“Yeah, ‘course we can,” he nodded, and Mad-Eye barely suppressed a chuckle.

“Excellent,” said Mad-Eye before he stretched a little. “Right. I need some shut-eye, and I imagine you do too.” Ron nodded and went to head out of the room, leaving Mad-Eye behind. He shook his head, smirking small before heading up to find a spare bed or couch to use for a few hours.

 

* * *

 

 

Hermione Granger was the last to approach Mad-Eye about his house, and it was only because of the somewhat smug goading from her three friends. She just needed to put a stop to it – she sought out Mad-Eye after one of the Order meetings, and they lingered back until everyone was gone. She folded her arms.

“I know this is silly, but Harry, Ron and Ginny won’t stop going on about it –“

“My house, hm?” Mad-Eye interrupted, and it made Hermione pause for a minute. Hermione nodded, and Mad-Eye settled back to lean against a table, ready for the game to begin.

“Well,” he started, “Miss Granger, I wonder what house _you might_ think I was in? I’m interested to hear your insight.” Hermione wasn’t expecting it, but she paused. And then she paused some more. And then, finally, her eyebrows knit together, confusing Mad-Eye entirely.

“… You haven’t been telling the others your real house, have you?” Hermione asked. Mad-Eye was unfazed, or at least acted like it. “You just ask what house they _think_ you’re in and then you tell them you’re right!” And well, Mad-Eye had a decision to make, there and then.

“… Yes. You’re right,” he nodded, sighing and shaking his head. “Shameful of me, isn’t it? I guess it’s one of the few things that I get any joy out of these days.” Hermione looked simultaneously like the wanted to gloat for her discovery and that she was apologetic for ruining what was obviously little more than a game. Mad-Eye then sighed, shaking his head.

“If it’s any consolation, none of them chose the correct house.” Mad-Eye glanced across the room, noticing from his enchanted eye that this had piqued Hermione’s interest. He gave a sigh. “No, nobody ever thinks ol’ Mad-Eye’s a Ravenclaw.” Hermione’s eyes widened and she took in a quick breath.

“I – Really?” she asked.

“Mmhm, through and through. Though I think I usually try to hide most of the traits, if only to keep the Ministry off my trail – they don’t know what you do, Miss Granger, so keep that in mind. But, as I’m sure you know, there’s no hiding true cleverness. Comes through in everything you do,” Mad-Eye mused. Hermione had all intentions of staying impartial, but she _did_ love being right. And to talk to someone that understood what it was like to have that intellect…

“I had my suspicions that you were a Ravenclaw,” she admitted, “but nobody agreed with me. Least of all _Ron,_ ” she sighed, shaking her head.

“Well, they obviously say you’re the brightest witch of your age for a _reason,_ ” Mad-Eye said with a smile, “because nobody else, not even the powers-that-be, have ever worked _that_ out.” And well, Hermione loved praise almost as much as she loved being right, and she straightened out her sweater before nodding.

“Well… thank you for letting me in on a couple of secrets, then, I suppose,” she smiled, and Mad-Eye nodded his head.

“Not a problem, Miss Granger,” he replied, and she turned to rush out of the room. Just before she could leave, though, Mad-Eye called out. “Not a word to the others, though!” Hermione nodded before heading across the landing towards Harry, Ron and Ginny. Mad-Eye could _just_ make out the four of them, all standing around with a slightly haughty air about them. He smirked and shook his head.

He knew he was good, but gods, he didn't think he was Fool-Hermione-Granger good.

 

* * *

 

A day or two passed, and the chatter around Mad-Eye’s Hogwarts house had died down a little. Mad-Eye had been sent off on some Order business with Tonks, and after her goodbyes to everyone around the house, they finally left.

“So,” she remarked, shutting the door behind them with the hand not holding her broomstick, “you finally got the full set.” Mad-Eye glances at her before letting out a little laugh.

“Only with your help,” he replied, “if you hadn’t have told me Granger thought I was a Ravenclaw, I was dead in the bloody water.” Tonks laughed, nudging Mad-Eye in the arm a little.

“Ah, always got your back, Mad-Eye. I’ve only heard you tell me stories about you doing it years ago to the Order. It was a right laugh seeing the game in action for re-“ Tonks noticed that Mad-Eye was looking at the door, and she turned around to see Remus Lupin in the doorway.

“… A game?” Remus asked, holding Tonks’ wand. She dipped her eyebrows, patting around in her jeans and her pockets. She muttered a curse under her breath as she strode towards Remus, taking her wand and muttering a quick thanks.

“Nothing to worry about, Remus. Some of the kids speculating on my Hogwarts house, that’s all. Had to, y’know. Wool, eyes, all that,” he remarked, and Remus gave the faintest smirk.

“Really, Alastor?”

“Oh, come off it, Remus. It’s fun, no harm done, they’ll never know,” Mad-Eye replied.

“Mmm. Someday one of us might just have to tell them that you’re really a Gryffindor.” Remus shook his head, and Mad-Eye frowned.

“Hey, _quiet._ Don’t want ‘em hearing. Let me have _some joy,_ ” he said in little more than a hiss. Remus tilted his head forward a little, tapping the side of his nose.

“Safe travels Tonks, Alastor,” said Remus as he turned to head inside. Once the door was closed again, Mad-Eye looked to Tonks, and she did the same to him.

“… You did it to him too?” Tonks asked. Mad-Eye smirked.

“Told him that when he was twenty-bloody-one and he still doesn’t question it all these years later,” Mad-Eye chuckled.

“D’you think you’ll ever actually tell anyone the whole truth?” Tonks asked, mounting her broom. Mad-Eye paused thoughtfully. Then he smirked and mounted his own broom.

“Not as long as it’s still _fun_ tricking ‘em, Tonks,” he replied, before kicking hard off the ground and flying towards the clouds.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! This was inspired by, obviously, the fact that we don't find out Mad-Eye's house in the series, and I definitely thought that would be a talking point in the Order-and-friends group, particularly amongst the younger allies. So I wrote this up! Again, it's supposed to be vague and not give any leanings as to what house Mad-Eye is in - of course, he told the truth to at least one person! 
> 
> Just for the record, I quietly enjoy the headcanon that he was a Hufflepuff - I think it's very unexpected and would really highlight the fact that he is the way he is because of seeing way too much as an Auror. But whatever you think is great! 
> 
> Again, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
